Manchester United star Ashley Young 'to take advantage of Angel Di Maria and Luke Shaw injuries'

Ashley Young is eager to become a Manchester United first-team regular againReuters

Manchester United star Ashley Young hopes to take advantage of his versatility to play both as a left-back and on the wing to re-established himself Louis van Gaal's first-team line-up.

After starting the three Premier League games of the campaign, the England international suffered a groin injury that ultimately drop in the pecking order behind record signing Angel Di Maria on the left-wing.

"It's always hard for a player to get injured and I am no different to that. Seeing the boys go out to train and knowing you are just in the gym day in, day out, was tough but hopefully, fingers crossed, the injuries are behind me now so I can just concentrate on playing football and being in the team," Young said to MUTV.

"I set myself targets at the start of the season but getting the injury has put them a bit further back. I am just concentrating on being in the team week in and week out now, hopefully in the starting 11, and I will just take it from there."

Luke Shaw's injury during the game against Arsenal gave Young the chance to regain his starting place in Van Gaal's line-up during the 3-0 victory over Hull City.

After back-to-back victories over Crystal Palace, Arsenal and Hull, United host Stoke City on Tuesday 2 December.

"This has always been when United teams come strong and get points on the board. You look further up the table rather than looking around you. We hope to come strong after the Christmas period and that can only set us up for the rest of the season," he said.

"It's a time when you play a game, have a cool down day afterwards and then you are back playing again. But that is what every player wants to do. You want to go out there and play matches and win. We have got some big games coming up and everybody wants to play. If you saw our training sessions, you would see that everybody wants to be in the team and playing."

Meanwhile, asked about the game against Stoke, he added: "Last season they came here and did well [Stoke led before losing 3-2], which was disappointing for us.

"But maybe this year they will come here and play like other teams at Old Trafford by putting some men behind the ball.

"It's up to us to break them down, but that is nothing new to us. We have shown signs that we can hurt teams and I'm sure we can do that and get the three points."